current Catalog - Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

MISSIONMissionThe Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), a seminary of the EvangelicalLutheran Church in America (ELCA), forms visionary leaders to bear witness to thegood news of Jesus Christ.VisionLSTC seeks to build up the Body of Christ and work for a world of peace andjustice that cares for the whole creation.ValuesLSTC is• Christ-centered—Strives by God’s grace to follow Christ’s call to loving service.• Responsive to context—Embraces its diverse urban setting and exciting academicenvironment that enable learning from and ministering to the community.Relationships with synods and congregations provide academic and practicalexperiences that meet the needs of the church.• Attentive to diversity—Emphasizes knowing and honoring the perspectives of allnationalities, ethnicities, cultures, Christian traditions, and religions to form leaderswhose witness to the Gospel will build communities of hospitality and reconciliation.• Committed to excellence—Sends leaders into church and world who are preparedacademically, practically, and spiritually to serve in a variety of vocational andministry settings. Faculty members are faithful Christians who are internationallyrecognized scholars and teachers. Administration and staff strive to provideexemplary service to all constituents.Welcoming StatementLSTC strives to offer a community and academic experience that is grounded in thegood news of the gospel and shaped by our urban, multicultural, ecumenical, global,interfaith and university-related context and commitments.Our primary mission is to prepare women and men for a complex, pluralisticworld in need of faithful and courageous ministers to serve in a variety of contexts.Although a large percentage of students come to LSTC to prepare for ordained orlay rostered ministries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, LSTC isalso enriched and transformed by ecumenical and interfaith students in our variousmaster’s and doctoral programs, as well as ecumenical and interfaith colleagues.As a Reconciling in Christ seminary, LSTC seeks to offer hospitality andwelcome to all who enter LSTC’s academic programs. Following Jesus Christ, whosereconciling love bridged barriers and made strangers friends, we seek to welcome andlearn from one another’s particularity—including but not limited to one another’srace, national or ethnic origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity andexpression, physical ability, social status and theological diversity.LSTC is always becoming a reconciling community. Reconciliation is an ongoingactivity and effort that we do together.3